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App-y New Year! Top mobile marketers explore the next big things for 2019

It’s looking like it’s going to be a very Happy New Year for app marketing in 2019. This past year U.S. digital revenues grew by 23%, to $49.5 billion, which according to IAB’s annual report, means the industry might surpass $100 billion annual revenue for the first time ever by the close of 2018. By all accounts, mobile is the industry’s jet fuel. Mobile video on its own, accounted for the majority of video ad revenue this year, at $4.2 billion, up 60.5% from the previous year.

The ever-increasing amount of time spent on mobile phones, exciting technological advancements, and the growing demand for mobile ad space should give every mobile marketer the warm and fuzzy feeling of reassurance that they are going into 2019 working in the right industry!

We asked the Mobile Masterminds to share what they are most excited for next year, and make a few predictions for where they think the industry is heading. Check out their insightful comments below and add some inspiration to your 2019 mobile marketing strategies.

The next big things for mobile app marketing in 2019

Etienne de Guébriant, Etermax

“I think 5G will be a game changer. I’m positive the new technology will open a lot of opportunities for newcomers to take advantage of, whether it’s gaming, streaming, etc. The developers who adapt the fastest will have the upper hand on the competition.” – Etienne de Guébriant, UA Team Leader at Etermax

Rocio Perez, Liligo

“Next year I think new technologies are going to drive the industry. Machine learning and artificial intelligence will improve targeting and audiences. The increased use of wearable devices and virtual reality will mean marketers need to include the new technologies in their strategies. Better payment gateways will also increase the use of mobile wallets. And overall, the industry will increase investment in mobile app security.” – Rocio Perez, Acquisition Manager at Liligo

Sam McLellan, Yousician

“For Facebook and Google, it would appear next year we will be facing less control over where our ads are shown. Google’s move to UAC removes much of the control marketers previously had, and that trend looks like it will continue, with Google doubling down on the UAC system and Facebook testing out something similar of their own. Considering the increased costs seen with UAC, it’s a shame that the advertiser has to eat the increased cost of buying ineffective traffic, but FB/Google seem to see it as a way to attract new advertisers who may have been scared off by all the switches and knobs involved in the old system.

Outside of the self-attributing networks (SANs), I think we’re likely to see content and ads continue to become ever more blended together. Influencers will continue to play a large role in promoting products in a way that is received well by younger viewers and content marketing will evolve beyond blog posts and become further integrated into standard content in large publications. People don’t want to opt into reading ads, so the more naturally ads can imitate user content or appear to be part of an article, the more likely it is that users will engage with them.”-Sam McLellan, Head of User Acquisition at Yousician

Arturo Camargo, Headway

“While the influencer trend is in no way new, I think it will begin to be recognized by mobile marketers as an unignorable channel in 2019. Influencers continue to gain momentum and have been reported to increase campaigns conversions at 3x higher rates than campaigns with no influencer promotion.

Better tools for finding influencers and tools for more transparent social weight tracking is making it easier to identify opportunities. As the channel becomes more tied to metrics and offers higher levels of control and optimization, influencer marketing will become more widely adopted by not just early adopters but will grow into standard practice.”- Arturo Camargo, Head of Growth in LATAM at Headway

Gabriel Sampaio, Rappi

“I think next year is going to be all about better usage of the data generated in apps, and using it to improve digital strategies. Most companies generate a lot of data but don’t know how to use it for business purposes. I expect in 2019 we will see data strategies go deeper, using clusters, audience lists, and more customized and assertive media buying.

Automation and creative DCO will stop being only tested, and start gaining scale and be more widespread among advertisers. And on the user level, I think digital payment methods like digital wallets (Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Rappi Pay) will see a boost in usage, and we are on the way to soon become a cashless society.” – Gabriel Sampaio, Head of Digital Media LATAM at Rappi

Pau Quevado, Innogames

“Playables should become more and more relevant during 2019. The format is not only exciting because of its novelty, but it offers advertisers the ability to engage users and demonstrate the most attention-grabbing features of their app without the roadblock of an install event”. –Pau Quevedo, Online Marketing Manager at Innogames

Rafael Camargo, InstaFit

“2019 will be the year when apps finally make full use of all device characteristics for every device type. We have been overlooking something as simple as audio in apps, which currently almost no one is giving the importance it deserves.

If approximately 90% of the information our brains receive is visual, the right audio integrations can tremendously strengthen the usability of an app. The future of applications will be to transform the best ideas into full sensory engaging applications that support communities and help improve lifestyles.” -Rafael Camargo, Head of Growth at InstaFit

Michael Jessen, eCooltra

“It’s not new technology but I think audio and programmatic will have an even bigger presence for mobile marketers in the year to come.”- Michael Jessen, Mobile Marketing Manager at eCooltra